Welcome to fall in Ontario Canada, this month it’s a spirit-calming riot of nature. And this month, it’s ours to discover. Ontario is Canada’s largest province by population at 12,160,278 other people and four Worldly Chicks and second largest in size at 1,076,395 sq. km (415,598 sq. miles).

In autumn in Ontario, the trees blaze in golds and reds and oranges. The skies are clear and deep and endless.

The air takes on a snap in the evening as we dig through our closets for sweaters and light jackets. Fall fairs abound with pie making contests, oversize vegetables and traveling midways set up in dusty community centre parking lots. It’s the month of candy apples at farm matches, and farmer’s markets with plump pumpkins and squashes. It’s the month of Thanksgiving and lessening light and of giving in to a mug of hot chocolate on a chilly afternoon. Later in the month mornings could mean having to scrape a thin layer of frozen dew off car windows.

From the province’s capital of Ottawa, to the towers and attitude of Toronto, to the mists of Niagara, and the fields and lakes of the north, we welcome you to Ontario.

Jump in the car, wind down a window and we’ll go for a month-long drive.

I just flipped the calendar you gave me to the new month. Must be an Australian calendar as there are TULIPS in October. Not this far north sweetie unless you're just reminding me to plant them in time for next spring

But I must admit there is a lovely abundance of color in this set so I'll enjoy looking at it anyway

Glad to be in Ontario! Wow, what gorgeous colors! The hot autumn reds and golds from Ontario and the amazing purples from Shad. I may have to buy more paint! Clearly, I must go to Wiki or somewhere and read up about Canada. I remember some place names but don't know if they're cities or states. How ignorant!

I'm glad I'm not pornographic. I missed most of that discussion. Perhaps it is just as well!

Rennie & Holly-- I hope you are both feeling better. I do think that Mom's are wise to teach their children how to be little helpers, soothers, tea-brewers etc. My son STILL takes me for granted (Oh, mom? She won't make a fuss... ), and sometimes I wish he didn't.

Happy -- We're looking at that part of the world for retirement, too. Nothing cheap, but sure is pretty. We are NOT "natural" Southerners. Did you find any towns in RI or the vicinity that you liked? We need to plan a "deep winter" trip to see just how wintry the winters would seem. (You guys from Ontario, please don't laugh!!)

Good day today: OP and proud of it.

__________________If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. - W. Beran Wolfe

MADCAT YOU DID A WONDERFUL JOB. I AGREE WITH HAPPY...THE LAKE PIC IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS BUT I LOVE THE LEAVES TOO AND CAN HEAR AND SMELL THEM FROM HERE!! THANKS SO MUCH AND WILL GO AND TAKE A LOOK AT THE WEBSITE LATER!! HAVE A GREAT DAY! I AM READY FOR THE MONTH LONG DRIVE

HAPPY~ WE COULD CALL YOU THE RI HEN! NOW WE HAVE A NAME FOR YOU, THE DH NEEDS TO COOPERATE! I HAVE HUNDREDS OF FLOATERS AND HAVE HAD SOME OF THEM SINCE IN MY 20'S. WHEN THEY DIALATE MY EYES, I STILL HAVE TO DRIVE NYSELF OUT OF THERE AND INTO THE VAN UP A RAMP! ALSO THE ROSACEA AND CATARACTS DON'T HELP HOPE YOURS DISAPPEAR SOON!! YOU ARE ONE BUSY LADY THIS SUMMER!!

SHAD~ FUNNY I WAS GOING TO TELL YOU IT WAS THE QUEEN'S BD AND THEN FORGOT...ALSO LABOUR DAY. WAS GOING TO ASK WHAT YOUR PLANS ARE! IT'S ON MY CALENDAR!!! HOP[E THIS WEEK IS A BETTER ONE!

RENNIE~ WHAT FAMILY EVER GET'S THE HINT ABOUT HOW THEY ACT WHEN SICK!? JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER HAPPY HUNTING FOR DH!

HOLLY~ GLAD YOU'RE HEARING IS IMPROVING AND HOPE IT WILL BE ALL OVER SOON.

THESE DARKER DAYS ARE KILLING ME!! CAN'T WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND CAN'T WAIT TO GET INTO BED AT NIGHT. I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW THREAD AND WAS SO PLEASED TO SEE THE MAGIC OF MADCAT THIS MORNING. THANKS AGAIN. WE CAN ALL BE OUTRAGEOUSLY OPTIMISTIC IN OLDE ONTARIO!!
HAPPY MONDAY

Mel, as usual we crossed paths, you were typing as I was reading. Don't be sniffing those leaves lady! Look but don't breathe Can't have you getting all stuffed up. I can't imagine having to drive anything with fuzzy dilated eyes. At least with my glasses on I can manage not to bump into things but without them (this was the first time I had ever checked that out) - I'm doing a Stevie Wonder! I will do my hair red again and you can call me RI Red The alarm went off at 6 today and it was so dark I thought I had messed up the time on the clock. I went in the yard to check the pool - the leaves are falling into it and we have to be careful to clean the skim basket regularly so the pump doesn't sieze up and get clogged. As I stuck my hand into the dark hole I was PRAYING there would be no dead frogs or other scary things in there as I would have screamed, lost my balance and probably fell into the very cold pool. Thank goodness only leaves. I was thinking I should get up at 5:30 and go for a morning walk as it is nice and peaceful but I just don't feel safe anymore. Not even in my own neighborhood. DH said the same thing - he would be hesitant to get up at 4am to go stargazing out where there is less city light for fear that we'd get mugged. But as for you - hey, sleep in if you can and if you're going to bed earlier then maybe it won't be so bad to get up in the morning. Isn't it time for you to be planning some autumn craft for the seniors? Making turkeys out of apples? A wreath made out of pumpkin seeds (boy that one was a bugger to make )

I did fill the hummingbird feeders for what I hope is one last time. We still have about 3 stubborn hanger-ons that refuse to leave. It's getting rather cool for them and they should be on their way. They tell you not to just up and stop feeding them as they depend now more than error on the hummer juice. I guess their nature switch is just on slow.

Shad - that picture is gorgeous. Guess you have your own "riot of color" going on downunder. Take some time to enjoy it.

Painter - DH is from a beachfront town right on the border of Conneticutt (guess there's a whole lot of states I can't spell ) and Rhode Island . The town is called Westerly. It's a good sized town. But then again a very large part of New England is what they call "thickly settled" which means quite populated. Have to go to upstate NY to get into the country I guess. RI benefits from the warmer ocean waters in the winter. Their winter is a bit milder than Chicago - not the frigid "refrigerator chill you to the bone" type of cold Chicago gets. And the warmer currents push more of the snow away from there and into neighboring CT. DH said the colder weather lasts from November to April. And you do get the benefit of the gorgeous New England brilliantly colored autumns (which even after being with DH for 35 years I have yet to visit there in time to see them). You are right about it not being cheap there. DH's father's house would have been a rare chance at something affordable - even tho it is a tiny Cape Cod style house and 1/3 the size of the house we have now. But that's why they call it downsizing right? And DH would be over the top at me being forced to finally let go of alot of what he considers WAY TOO MUCH extra "stuff" laying around here. (I likes me my stuff )Vermont and New Hampshire are ski country - more winter than I'd like and then you have the coldest state on the mainland - Maine where winters are friggin' cold from what I hear. A short, cool summer season and then cold. Of course there are more states in New England than just those - what area were you looking at?

Oops - I have spent more than my alloted time here. I need to get to work a little earlier today so I'll be on my way.

Hugs to the chicks, go play outside!

Last edited by happy2bme : 10-01-2007 at 12:49 PM.
Reason: cuz I just can't stop talking!

I just realized that in the intro I said "the province’s capital of Ottawa, to the towers and attitude of Toronto"... um, that should have been from the nation's capital, Ottawa since Toronto is the capital of the province, Ontario, and Ottawa is Canada's capital. Geez, and you would think I didn't live 5k away from the provincial parliament buildings and that we weren't in the middle of a provincial election. See, Painter, you have an excuse in that it isn't your country - but really, I have no excuse And I hadn't even been drinking last night. I blame my allergies...

Shad ~ You may not be here to see the colour, but look at the lovely colours you do have, Besides, autumn in an innately sad season whereas spring is full of promise and filled, obviously, of blue and purples. How terrific that looks.

The last bank I worked for also thought 3FC was pornographic and blocked it. Maybe it helped that we all put our tops back on?

Painter~ Would part of not being a “natural southerner” needing to have a change of climate throughout the year? I suspect, as Happy says, that RI winters are probably more moderate than winters here. We would never laugh at people who “don’t do winter” even though we don’t even do up our coats for anything over -10C.

Happy~ I just noticed that I have a floater too. I suspect it has probably been there for a while and I only noticed it when lying in bed staring at the white ceiling one morning. I hear you when you say about not feeling safe going out to exercise in the dark. I was going to go for a bike ride last week one morning at 7 and when I looked out it was still dark (it was a grey day), so I changed my mind. Exercise is one thing but, really, safety is important too. I hear that a lot of street crimes happen in the hour or so before the sun rises. Now if you could get your DH to come with you…? I never realized DHwas a New England boy. Cool.

Mel~ These dark mornings really are hard, aren’t they? And something about the cooler weather makes lounging in bed a viable option. On the good side it is great sleeping weather and the cooler air is nice to be out and about in. Maybe you need to see if you get some more sun time?

Better get to work. Hi to Holly and Rennie and I hope you are both feeling better. Hi Ruth. Hope you had a lovely visit with your friend. Greetings to all the other chicks. I better run. One thing I have to do is book a trip to New York City for my sister and I. She needs a getaway. She’s doing ok on her continuing treatment but she’s quite stressed about losing her hair. It looks like male pattern baldness at the moment but she has bought this great collection head scarves. Even to hide the damage, she chooses bright colours. You have to love that.

Well, it's October at last, a time of optimism and Ontario Worldly Chick birthdays. Let's hope all those September nasties are gone for good, and the crisp fall air will let us all relax, and sleep and breathe better. I keep waiting for those endless blue skies Madcat has promised, but so far it's a little grey and not enough sunshine to make for good photos. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it...

Ruth, one of these times when you zip up to Ottawa to do whatever, I hope you'll give me a call ahead of time so we can get together for lunch or something!

Holly, I'm glad to hear the ear is improving. Do you know what caused it? Is it possible you were never taught that all-important rule:

My mommy said not to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears, beans in my ears
My mommy said not to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears

Too bad our schedules won't make it possible to meet up while you're in this neck of the woods. Maybe next time. I'm sure you'll have a terrific time.

Mel, you made me laugh with the fig story. I'm not a big fan, but did hear years ago that they could move cement... Maybe you should always keep one around for when you get bunged up. Of course the big question is whether you managed to weigh yourself after the fact - always so satisfying to see that lower number, even if we know it's fleeting (pun intended).
Congrats on being off the caffeine! I hadn't realized you'd managed it!

Rennie, you really crack me up! Good luck getting over the chest (oops - hope using that word didn't push us back into porn status...). Some people have a heck of a time swallowing pills, I have a feeling you're one of them. I can swllow a whole handful at once with no trouble at all. Just think a big handful of M&M's...

Happy, good news that the eye problem wasn't the retina. You get used to floaters after a while. If there's nothing on tv you can just watch the little beggars float around like tiny zeppelin- and twig-shaped amoebas.

Shad, I downloaded all the pics I had accumulated on my camera, and found a few of you and Ruth in Merrickville, and of you in the Gatineau Hills on our hike. If you PM me your email address I'll send them on to you, and to Ruth too if she sends me hers. If the weather holds and I find that elusive energy I may head up there for a hobble around some time this week.

Madcat, NYC sounds like great fun. It's been years since I was there.
You did a great job moving us to ON, and I confess I hadn't noticed the little capital city slip. Too bad the site doesn't have sound - we could fix it so that annoying Ontari-ari-ari-o song would play on a continuous loop... Or maybe the old 'Good things grow-ow-ow, in Ontario'. Shoot - now I have an earworm. Serves me right.

Ceejay, are you okay out there? It's seems to me it's been a few days since you were here.

Happy to be here with all of you. I am feeling quite a bit better . I have been googling maps and such for my trip. I was feeling anxious about being a way so long but getting over it. Seeing my dearest friends seems to have overridden missing my kids like mad.
This time next week i will have lots of Oct Ontario pics.

Oops. I had to close off before saying hi to everyone - everything I was writing turned to gibberish, not that I'm not used to babbling, but this time it was the computer. Obviously, I had hit some button that I shouldn't have. Easier to post and start again than risk losing the whole thing!

I was about to say thanks to Meadow for adding the fall leaves to the cat animation, which I've already stolen and added to my collection.

And a hello to Painter, who would probably really enjoy some of the lovely colours we have going. Every so often there's a splash of hot pink in amongst the reds and yellows and oranges.